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Whoa! Busy day in history today...

By The Armorer on August 2, 2005 | | Comments (15) | TrackBacks (10)

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216 -BC- Hannibal crushes a Roman Army at Cannae. Which, in the end, might as well be considered a Pearl Harbor... an event which led Admiral Yamamoto (the planner of the raid) to observe, ""I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve. ..." It moved the Romans to fully explore and execute Marcus Cato's dicta "Carthago Delenda Est" (Carthage must be destroyed). Anyone know any Carthaginians? Visited Carthage lately? Heh. And it echoes here in the Castle... Wahabism Delenda Est! Or, for the purists... Wahabismus Delenda Est!
[Erm, I've been reminded that it was really Hamilcar Barca, Hannibal's father, who roused the beast in the Punic Wars... still, a lesson in perseverance for us now...] [Another update: this time for the Googlebot: Yamamoto quote debunked - see comments to this post]

1776 Formal signing of Declaration of Independence. Royal Navy lands 32,000 British & Hessians on Staten Island, off New York. Hmm, that whole Declaration thing musta set 'em off...

1867 Wagon Box Fight: c. 30 army woodcutters defeat c. 1000 Sioux. And unknowingly provide the inspiration for decades of early Western movies, and for this cultural referent...

1887 Rowell Hodge receives a patent for barbed wire. The culture clash along the Chisum Trail and other locations intensifies.

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1914 German troops invade Luxembourg. Russian troops invade Eastern Prussia. The Guns of August open up and the curtain goes up on the Final Act of the Napoleonic Wars. Have to draw a line somwhere... but it was the whole 'Balance of Power" idea established by the Brits to contain Napoleon that led to the interwoven treaties whose clauses cascaded to start the bloodbath. In truth, you can make the argument to lay even our current troubles at the feet of Napoleon.

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1934 German Armed Forces swear a "Holy Oath" to the unholy Adolf Hitler. Thus setting the stage for the Angst of the German Officer Corps in their dealings with Hitler. Happy to embrace him in the beginning, starting to regret the deal in 1943, paralyzed to deal with it even as the Armies of the West and East were grinding german bones to dust.

1939 Einstein writes FDR about the atomic bomb. The seed that would become the Manhattan Project is planted.

1964 Gulf of Tonkin: North Vietnamese PT boats attack USS Maddox, resulting in HJ Resolution 1145. And we still haven't settled out the whole War Powers thing.

1990 Iraq invades & occupies Kuwait - onset of Destert Shield/Desert Storm. Hopefully all y'all are *up* on that...

In other news... mebbe I should put up a tip jar... H/t, multiple people seeking to help me expand the motor pool!

Let's close with this. I've not covered Jane Fonda's return to her roots, preferring to let others deal with it - and I don't have anything useful to add.

These troops do, however. They're holding her seat for her.

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H/t, multiple sources!

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Jihad Jane - The Age of Treason from Peenie Wallie on August 2, 2005 9:27 AM

Hanoi Jane is at it again. Not content with her treasonous actions during the Vietnam War, Jane Fonda is now taking her show on the road with a bus tour to protest our involvement in the Iraq war. Michelle... Read More

RESERVED FOR JANE FONDA from Michelle Malkin on August 2, 2005 9:48 AM

There's a special seat waiting for you in Tikrit. (Hat tip: Rob K., via John at href="http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/004400.html">Castle Argghhh!) *** Previous: Hanoi Jane becomes Baghdad Jane Not fond of Fonda Hanoi Jane rides again... Read More

RESERVED FOR JANE FONDA from Michelle Malkin on August 2, 2005 9:49 AM

There's a special seat waiting for you in Tikrit. (Hat tip: Rob K., via John at Castle Argghhh!) *** Previous: Hanoi Jane becomes Baghdad Jane Not fond of Fonda Hanoi Jane rides again... Read More

Do Desert BDUs come in a size 5? from bennellibrothers.com on August 2, 2005 9:54 AM

(h/t: Malkin who was linking to this site but went down)... Read More

Jane’s Regular Seat from Say Anything on August 2, 2005 9:59 AM

Heh. (via Arrgghh!!!) ... Read More

Because "Take Cover In The Temporary Stock Pen" Didn't Have The Same Ring To It from Dangerous Logic on August 2, 2005 12:02 PM

I enjoy hearing about the origin of coined words and phrases (incidentally, The Straight Dope is a good place for that kind of thing; examples here and here and here). Anyway, on this day in 1867, a battle fought in Wyoming gave us the expression 'circ... Read More

Soldier's Keep Reservation For Hanoi/Jihad Jane from Scotts Conservative News & Commentary on August 2, 2005 12:42 PM

John of Argghh! has outdone himself this morning with a great post featuring the seldom matched humor of our military men and women. For those that don't know, there are very few things I like better that humor originating from our servicemembers, an... Read More

See Jane Run from morningsun.blog-city.com on August 2, 2005 4:30 PM

Feeling exceptionally evil today. Of course the subject matter has a habit of doing that to people . So in the what's good for the goose , is good for the gander way of things . I have a solution. Read More

Reserved For The Traitor from Flopping Aces on August 2, 2005 9:30 PM

The sign says "Ms. Fonda, We're holding your regular seat in Tikrit" Read More

Linked with no further comment from Argghhh!!! from CDR Salamander on August 2, 2005 10:11 PM

John........you get all the good stuff!!! Read More

15 Comments

By AFSister on August 2, 2005 8:52 AM
Think we can get Ms. Fonda to sit on the receiving end of that weapon this time?
 
By kat-missouri on August 2, 2005 9:16 AM
Well, I do understand that Zawahiri complained about Napolean invading Egypt and inviting a Jews to come and settle there to create a "buffer" between French Egypt and the terrorists..er...Mohammedin forces. then there was that whole thing where the British took it back and the ottomen finally took it again. I blame it all on Nappy. He was short and had bad hair anyway.
 
By Mythilt on August 2, 2005 9:48 AM
Someone needs to adjust that picture w/regards to hanoi jane properly...have two masked 'insurgents' next to an IED with that sign.
 
By Justthisguy on August 2, 2005 10:30 AM
Didn't Fabius Cunctator and Joe Johnston both get fired before they could succeed? (Yeah I know, half-Hood-half-Johnston woulda worked better) On Mr. Buonaparte: The nice old Imperialist Anglo-Irish lady who used to live around the corner discussed that with me, over her excellent whisky. We were talking about "just what happened to (formerly) Great Britain, anyway?" and decided that saving Western Civilization pretty much all by yerselves, three times in a row, can kinda tire out yer country and culture. I believe that the UK Treasury was still paying on bonds issued to defeat Nappy, as late as the 1950s! Her family paid heavily, too. She had a Grandfather at Balaklava (in the *Heavy Brigade* (Blues), thank you) who was never the same afterwards. Also an uncle blown to tiny Irish elementary particles (smithereens) at the Retreat From Mons.
 
By fine dry wit on August 2, 2005 11:09 AM
Gentlemen-just found your site thanks to Michelle Malkin, and I salute you! Jane Fonda is the epitome of the "Celebrity" needing to be heard,needing to think she makes a difference by riding around in a vegetable oil propelled vehicle. This is so self mocking that she does all the work for us. I think she's just gotten so old that she no longer cares what people say against her, so it's not worth much of my time to insult her, but I will say that I didn't mind the years of her obscurity at all, and when she passes on, she will be quickly forgotten except for the evil that she did in Vietnam, and the attempted evil now-she should be dismissed and ignored.
 
By Wayne on August 2, 2005 12:46 PM
Good luck with your site! But let me point out one small item. The Adm Yamamoto quote about "waking a sleeping giant" is often used, but the man never said that. That "quote" was a total fabrication created as a suitable ending for the movie Tora, Tora, Tora. A documentary on TV a while back had the movie people admitting they thought that line up as a means of making the ending less depressing for American audiences. They defended their fabrication on the basis of saying "Well, Yamamoto should have said that." What Yammomoto actually said was that he would "run wild" in the Pacific for 18 months but that if the war persisted longer than that he doubted Japan's ability to prevail. He was right strategically but was off by a couple months in terms of his personal future; 16 months after the attack on Pearl Harbor he was shot down and killed by the USAAF. By the way, a friend of mine, a WWII and Vietnam vet, has a bumper sticker on his car that says it all: "I'll forgive Jane Fonda when the Jews forgive Hitler."
 
By John of Argghhh! on August 2, 2005 12:50 PM
Argghhh! I *hate it* when that happens! Not that I get caught, the I get it wrong! Well, mebbe a *little* bit about getting caught, too. More here.
 
By Beck on August 2, 2005 7:04 PM
During a trip to Italy, I actually visited the ruins of Cannae. At the time, they were working on building a museum there and excavating the ruins. But basically, it was a free-for-all walking around the site. There were pottery shards and random sculptures everywhere. Basically, had we wanted to, we could have walked off with some ancient Roman artifacts, and no one would have been the wiser. The only people out there were some day laborers building stair ways and such through the ruins--they didn't give us a second look, and were clearly more interested in loafing than preventing theft. From the high points, you can see the whole sweeping valley, and easily imagine how the battle shaped up. It was a really cool experience, especially since, unlike Pompeii, it's not overflowing with tourists, or rigidly structured as to where you can go and what you can see.
 
By cw4(ret)billt on August 2, 2005 7:39 PM
Note the ummm--assiduous--placement of the *sharp* metallic object on the gunner's seat of the ZPU...
 
By Toby Petzold on August 2, 2005 7:44 PM
I'm stealing that last photo. You guys make me proud every day.
 
By cw4billt on August 2, 2005 8:39 PM
Toby - Check your mailbox. Hi-res compliments of the house for your impeccable taste in artwork...
 
By cw4billt on August 2, 2005 8:44 PM
BTW, that's a 42dID patch on each left shoulder. National Guard humor in the "One Weekend a Month My Ass" vein...
 
By Flea on August 2, 2005 10:55 PM
Hey, I was about to send you that Fonda-related news! Well, just shows we are thinking of the Castle north of the border.
 
By cw4(ret)billt on August 3, 2005 1:56 AM
Great minds etcetera etcetera...
 
By Cricket on August 3, 2005 11:01 AM
John, I read your post of a year ago, and I have a Biblical precedent to cite: God ordered that Canaan be purged, even to the animals. Israel did not obey. They had to get people like Samson and even he didn't obey. The Almighty warned Israel that by not purging Canaan that Israel would become corrupt, which certainly did happen and the Kingdom of Israel passed into history. They make no distinctions with us. We are the demon seed to them and to show mercy in their minds is to show weakness. With the Germans it was different because before Hitler, they were a Christian nation. They didn't have generations steeped in hate and lies and false teachings. It is in their DNA.
 
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